So Many Jack's, So Little Time
by WhatATragicComedy
Summary: Kinda Like Ripple Effect but not
1. Chapter 1

I do not own anything related to sg-1 and am writing this with no benefit to myself except for the pure joy of thinking it up.

Now on with the story.

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Sam Carter walked into her lab reading a report and eating a rather delicious pastry, courtesy of one Dr. Daniel Jackson.

On looking up, Sam found that she was equal parts blissfully beside herself and horrifically terrified. There were _at least_ twenty Colonel O'Neill's roaming around her lab. She was tremendous glad that she had not been trying to swallow a bite of her pastry at that moment as she would have inevitably choked and have to be rushed to the infirmary. The latter she wasn't quite sure still wouldn't need to be done.

Almost as one, the twenty O'Neill's turned in her direction and smiled _the_ smile. The one that she swears she only saw when he looked at her sometimes. Under the magnitude of receiving such a smile from so many faces, Sam's knees actually went a little weak.

Again, at the same time, several Carter's were called by the troop, along with a few Sam's, which did not go unnoticed by her. Neither did it go unnoticed by the group as they all did his cute little scrunching up of the face and looked at each other. Crap! Did she just think that was cute?

One of the O'Neill's at the front stepped forward with a scowl on his face.

"Carter! Do you think you can fix this little problem?"

Was this her Colonel? "Umm, sir??"

Recognizing the questioning look she was giving him, Jack rolled his eyes and said, "Yes, I'm _your_ Colonel."

A snort came from the back of the room, followed by a muttered, "He wishes."

Jack's eyes narrowed and he whipped around so fast, Sam wasn't quite sure how he didn't fall over.

"And you! I've already told you to shut it!" Whilst in the process of turning back towards Sam, Jack continued his tirade. "God! Am I always this mouthy?"

Deciding it would be best for her career if she didn't answer that question, Sam scanned the room. Two O'Neill's appeared to be in a glaring match, sizing each other up which she kind of found amusing considering they were the same person. Four were surrounding her lab table, each messing with different equipment. One was reaching toward a device SG-6 had brought in yesterday. Sam had no idea what it did yet and to have any O'Neill reaching to press the lone button on the device screamed disaster.

"Sir!"

Surprisingly, not all of the O'Neill's looked up. There were one or two who cleared their throat as if they'd been caught doing something they shouldn't, and the ones at the table either immediately dropped their 'doohickey' and tried to look innocent or in the case of the 'button' O'Neill, froze with arm still outstretched and looked sideways at her guiltily.

"I wouldn't touch that if I were you, sir."

'Button' O'Neill pulled his hand slowly back and looked at her sheepishly. The other three doohickey O'Neill's were in various stages of mocking. All three were shaking their heads slowly, while one added, "Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Here for one hour and already in trouble with Carter." This earned a glare from 'button' O'Neill.

"This is weird."

Sam turned to look at her Colonel, from which the comment had come from.

"How did this happen, sir?"

"No idea. They just started showing up through the gate."

"Hey Sam, I was just looking at this tablet from...oh god!"

Daniel stood in the doorway to the lab with his mouth hanging open and a horrified dazed expression on his face.

Several 'Danny-boy's from cheeky grin wearing O'Neill's seemed to terrify him further.

"What in the hell did you do, Jack?"

Receiving either continued cheeky grins or mock indignation from various O'Neill's, Jack said, "Me? What do you mean what did I do? I didn't do anything!"


	2. Chapter 2

I know this chapter is a little vague and lacking in a lot of details but I promise the next chapter will be different. I just kind of wanted a chapter with an overall reaction to the situation before I delved deeper.

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One week had passed since the twenty O'Neill's had stepped through the gate. SGC members were in various states of disarray as a result.

General Hammond had banned all O'Neill's, including the original, from stepping into his presence for the next three days. One of the Colonel O'Neill's didn't take that order seriously and ended up in the brig as a result.

Daniel was _thisclose_ to running into an incoming wormhole or bashing his head on one of his artifacts. He had thought one bored Jack was bad. Now, at any given time, two or three O'Neill's could be found in his office. Two or three _bored_ O'Neill's. That liked to play catch with his artifacts. And then drop them because they _sucked_ at catch. Daniel had found that it was actually worse to not have one of the Jack's present. That typically meant something bad was going to happen. And most likely to him. Jack O'Neill was a prankster and now he had twenty of himself to bounce ideas off of. This one week had caused Daniel to become quite paranoid and he was pretty sure he was developing a twitch.

Teal'c was actually enjoying the whole experience. The O'Neill's would come to him when they wanted to spar and he had effectively beaten every single one of them. Teal'c had also been the one to introduce the idea of the O'Neill's sparring with each other. Many had come to watch the O'Neill's do battle on the following days and many bets had been placed. Teal'c's lips twitched into what could only be described as smug. Much money had been won.

Janet was seriously considering entering herself into a psych ward. Thanks to Teal'c's _wonderful_ idea, Janet had three Colonel's in her infirmary. Teal'c had no idea the plotting of his demise that was currently going through the minds of several of the nursing staff. And if she so much as heard one more little whine, Janet was going to buy elephant needles in large quantities and use whichever Colonel crossed her as a pin cushion. As it was, she was currently eying the sedative cabinet on a frequent basis.

Sam was overall enjoying the experience. The first few days had been a little terrifying. At any given moment, there had been multiple Colonel's littering her lab. After trying to wrangle all of her equipment away on a repeated basis, Sam decided that the idea of having just one child appealed to her greatly. Especially if it were to be Jack's child. Oh god! She did not just have that thought.

On the third day, a system had been worked out. Only one Colonel could be in her lab at any given time. Sam was even starting to be able to tell them apart. And had given them names. The four original trouble makers from her lab had been the first with names. Button O'Neill had stuck and for some reason, every time she thought of the other three, Huey, Duey, and Louie came to her mind. Then, there was Doc. Yes, a Dr. Jack O'Neill. And he was unabashedly unashamed of the fact, much to the chagrin of the other O'Neill's. 'Stache kind of creeped her out. Colonel O'Neill with a mustache? She cringed just at the idea. He looked _much_ better without it. Sam's favorite was Mouth. He was also the Colonel's least favorite. And for the very same reason. Since this wasn't his reality, Mouth had absolutely no problem with saying something to completely embarrass and mortify the Colonel.

The science of the situation for Sam was another matter. Entropic cascade failure should have been effecting the multiples long ago but they seemed to be completely fine on all counts. It had at least been determined how they came upon this reality. SG-1 had several months ago gone to a planet designated PS5-727. Being a 'Daniel' planet, the Colonel had been bored. When he found a hand print on one of the walls in the structure of the building they were in, he had placed his own hand over it. Colonel O'Neill had said that it felt like little feelers were slightly suctioning his hand for a moment and then released him. Janet had checked him over just to be safe once the team had returned home but found nothing the matter with him so the incident was forgotten. Apparently, the multiple O'Neill's had just gone to that planet, and being Jack O'Neill, they had all gotten bored and placed their hand on the imprint. Only when they did so, they were immediately transported to this reality. They didn't realize it at the time. To them, it looked as though all of their team had simply disappeared. The problem was, Sam was still unaware of how this technology worked, and was thus, at a loss of how to send them back as of now. Daniel was still in the process of translating the ruins, and Sam was hoping that he had better luck in figuring out how to operate the device.

Jack the First, as he was now calling himself, was very ready to be the only O'Neill in his reality again. It had been fun at first. Annoying Daniel had been taken to new heights and had been thoroughly amusing. But Carter was a different matter. 'They' were always there. Giving her those looks. Was it stupid to be jealous of yourself? And he was positive that she smiled more at them. Especially that mouthy one. If it wasn't him constantly making some kind of remark about 'feelings', then he was running around telling Feretti embarrassing stories, or telling Daniel that Jack had been the one to super glue his pants to the chair. Talk about a Benedict Arnold. And because of the stupid copies, Jack hadn't been allowed to leave the base for a week. Something about the airmen not being able to tell if it was really him and not one of the multiples leaving. Stupid alternate realities.


	3. Chapter 3

The changing of the guard.

"Doc."

"Colonel."

Sam smiled. Mouth.

"Heya, Carter."

"Hello, sir."

"Whatcha doin'?"

She sighed.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Carter, you sighed. You didn't spiel technobabble until my eyes glazed over. What did Doc do?"

"Dr. O'Neill? Nothing. He's not that different from the rest of you, ya know. He's just not afraid to show that he has intelligence...unlike some people I know."

He matched the not-quite-glare she was sending in his direction but decided to just go for a change in subject.

"So, if it's not Doc, then what's with the sighing?"

"It's the question."

"What?"

"'Whatcha doin'?' You all say it when you come in here. Normally, I find it cute..." after a nanosecond panic crossed her features, Sam continued, "and I have no idea why I just told you that. But after hearing it over and over and I'm still working on the same thing, it's a little cumbersome."

"Cumbersome?" He made a face at the odd word, even though he knew exactly what it meant.

"Carter."

Sam raised her eyes to the doorway and saw her Colonel standing there.

"Hello, sir."

"How do you do that?"

"Sir?"

"How can you tell that it's me? I mean, me...me? I mean...you know what I mean."

Sam shrugged. "I just...know."

Mouth smiled. "It's because you're the only one that glares at the other O'Neill's when you first walk in the door."

Jack glared. "You're the mouthy one, aren't you?"

"The one and only...well, maybe not only."

"And I don't glare."

"Yes, you do."

"No. I don't."

"Do."

"Don't."

"Do."

"Okay, that's enough."

They both turned toward a frustrated Carter. Very belatedly, she added, "Sirs."

"Well, Carter, do I glare?"

This was so a trick question. If she answered no, he would be able to tell she was lying. If she answered yes, he'd glare at _her_.

"Umm, no comment?"

She got glared at anyway.

Jack turned back to Mouth. "How come you don't glare?"

Mouth shrugged. "She's not my Carter."

Blushing. She was definitely blushing. Probably a neon shade by now.

Jack was somewhere between deer in the headlights and a goldfish. Deerfish maybe? Clearing his throat, Jack looked at Sam.

"So, whatcha doin'?'

_Lord, help me._ Mouth snorted and Sam sighed again.

"What? What'd I say?"

"Nothing, sir."

"She's tired of all of us asking her that question. Though, I did find out that normally, she finds it cute."

Sam glared at Mouth.

"Oh." Jack smiled a little smugly at the latter comment.

After a lull in which no one appeared to know what to say, Jack tapped his fingers on Sam's lab table.

"So, Carter. I'm thinkin' cake."

"Hey. This is my Carter time."

"Excuse me?"

"I had them split into shifts, sir. My lab was getting a little crowded." She had the decency to look sheepish.

"Right. And this is _my_ Carter time."

"You seem to be forgetting something you just said."

"What?"

"She's not your Carter. My reality. My Carter. So, Carter...cake?"

They were fighting over her. If she wasn't so caught up on the bizarreness of two Jack O'Neill's fighting each other over her, Sam might have said something to the effect that she didn't _belong_ to anyone. But then a little part of her just really liked hearing the Colonel say she was his. Sorry, Mouth. Gotta go with the original.

Shooting Mouth a look of apology, she said to Jack, "Sure, sir. Let me just shut this down."

Jack smiled triumphantly. "K, I'll meet ya at the elevator."

"Okay, sir. Be right there."

After Jack walked out, Sam turned to apologize to Mouth to find him staring at her with a smile on his face.

"What?"

His grin grew just a hair.

"Nothin'."

She decided she probably didn't want to know. While in the process of turning her laptop off, he said, "He's crazy about you, ya know."

Literally dropping her laptop back on the desk, Sam frowned. Good thing she bought an extra sturdy version. Deciding it was probably best to not even acknowledge that comment, Sam turned away from him to turn off another piece of equipment.

"You don't believe me, do you?"

He sounded incredulous that she could possibly be unaware. She wasn't unaware. Completely. Sure, they both knew. Or at least they did. There were the obvious za'tarc and armband instances for one. But those were so long ago. He could very well have changed his mind by now. I mean, they both knew nothing could happen. She couldn't expect him to stay hung up on her forever. Like she was with him.

"Caarter?"

Sam sighed internally. She was starting to agree with the Colonel that maybe this one was just a little _too_ mouthy.

"Not all realities can be the same."

"Oh, for cryin' out loud. I hope my Carter's not this oblivious. Go eat your lunch, Major." He stood up abruptly and walked out of her lab in a huff.


	4. Chapter 4

"I can't believe they don't have any cake!"

"Well, sir, you do eat alot of cake and now there are twenty one of you."

"But this is _my_ reality. I should get first dibs on cake!"

Sam bit back a smile. "At least they had your red jello."

"Yeah." There was sad acceptance in Jack's voice and Sam was pretty sure he was doing his best not to pout. She would have loved to meet the woman who put up with raising Jack O'Neill.

"So, have you been spending any time with the other O'Neills?"

"A little. We've played some playstation. One of them stole my Gameboy though. I can't figure out what they did with it. Ooh. One of my doubles beat Teal'c today."

"Really? Which one?"

Jack pointed to his mouth area. "The one with the..."

"Oh! 'Stache."

"'Stache?"

"Yeah, he's got a mustache so that's what I call him in my head."

Jack grinned. "You got names for all of them?"

"Not all. But some of them, yeah."

They laughed for a while over naming the O'Neill's.

"Mouth! Ugh. That's a perfect name for him. Traitor!"

"He's not that bad, sir."

"Yeah, well, he's not trying to make your life a living hell. Are we any closer to getting rid of these guys?"

"The technology is way beyond me. I'm hoping that once Daniel finishes the translations of the ruins that we'll know more about how it works."

"What's taking him so long? It's been over a week."

"I don't think Daniel's adjusting very well to having several of you around him at all times...sir."

"You mean they are holding him up? Well, I can take care of that." Standing up, Jack said, "See ya, Carter. I've got a few doubles to scatter. Haven't had my own rock time in a while."

On returning to her lab, Sam wondered whether the Colonel sent all the O'Neill's to her lab.

"Uhh, sirs?"

"Carter, take a seat."

Seems like Mouth was the leader of this outfit.

Doing as she was told, Sam sat at her lab table.

Clapping his hands together, Mouth said, "Since you refuse to believe the obvious, we're going to do a bit of an experiment. And we know how you scientists love your expirements. All Jack O'Neill's who have a Samantha Carter in their reality please raise your hand."

All hands rose.

"Good." Wagging his finger at the group, Mouth continued, "Now be honest, how many of you would love to be in a relationship with your Carter?"

All the hands stayed in place. By this point, Sam was pretty sure she was red all the way down to her toes.

"How many of you are actually in a relationship with your Carter?"

All but three hands went down, including Mouth's. Sam was pretty sure she heard him mutter, "Lucky bastards."

"So, how are you three getting around the regs?"

Two of the O'Neill's said that their Sam's were non-military, but the third remained silent.

Sam was pretty sure it was Duey, but she had a hard time telling him and Louie apart as they wore they same type of uniform.

Mouth stared at the silent Duey. "And you?"

"Uhh, umm."

Mouth's jaw dropped. "You're breakin' the regs, aren't you?"

Sam gasped and looked at Duey in shock.

He put his hands out in front of him as if to stop them from attacking him.

"It was her idea."

"_MY _idea??"

"No. _Her_ idea."

"How long?" Sam could just not believe that she had broken the regs, in any reality.

"About six months ago."

Sam thought back. All of the sudden, realization dawned. After a particularly bad mission, she had come very close to going to the Colonel's. She'd desperately wanted to be in his presence just for him to tell her it was okay but she was afraid something would happen if she did, so she never went. Evidently, her assumption that something would have happened was right.

"Oh."

Mouth looked shocked. "It happened here too!"

"No! No. Of course not! I just think I know what he's talking about."

She looked at Duey. "PS9-238?"

He nodded.

Everyone seemed to be trying to think back to that particular mission. At once, as they realized the opportunity missed, several O'Neill's said, "Well, darn."

There was that scrunched face look again. Having the same trains of thought as twenty different people meant that there were occasionally times when multiple O'Neill's said the same thing at the same time. None of them seemed to appreciate the fact.

Just then, Jack walked into the lab.

"Whoa! Seems like I've hit the mother load. I was wondering what happened to you guys. What'd I miss?"

Sam practically shouted, "Nothing!" Doing her best to put the fear of god into the other O'Neill's that if they said anything she would dismember them piece by piece, Sam reiterated, "Nothing. They were just bored is all. Sir."

Jack clearly didn't believe her, but unfortunately for him, he had been commissioned by Hammond to get all the O'Neill's for training new recruits. It seemed to Jack that the General had the worst timing for finally finding something to occupy the O'Neill's with.

Eying Mouth, Jack decided that maybe that ones traitorous ways might actually come in handy when it came to getting information on whatever just happened here. Although, if Mouth had anything to do with it, Jack shuddered, maybe he didn't want to know.


	5. Chapter 5

Daniel fidgeted in his chair. It was too quiet. Looking around, he realized that only one of the Jack's was in his office.

Daniel was about to thank the heavens above when he realized that this Jack wasn't fidgeting or pacing, talking or trying to bug him. He was just standing there, resting his elbows on Daniel's desk, and staring into space.

"Jaack?"

"Hmm."

He was still dazed out.

"What are you doing?"

"What?"

He looked over at Daniel with a confused expression.

"What were you thinking about?"

Jack looked down on the desk and picked up one of Daniel's pencils.

"Nothing."

Great. A Jack in an introspective mood that wants to talk but is going to made you shake it out of him. Fun.

"Jack."

He fake-smiled. "I said it's nothing, Daniel."

"But there is an _it._"

Jack's face faltered.

"Aren't you supposed to be working on that?"

"I am working on 'that'. I can talk at the same time, Jack. So what is it?"

Jack frowned and then sighed.

_Hmm, he's not putting up too much of a fight. _

"It's my son. He's graduating today and I'm missing it."

Daniel was too stunned to say anything for a minute. Finally, he came out with, "Your son?"

Jack gave him an incredulous look.

"Yeah? What? This Jack never had a son?"

"Charlie?"

"Yeah."

Jack still had a I-so-don't-understand quality about his face.

"Oh wow."

"I don't get it. What'd I miss?"

"Charlie...Charlie died in this reality. When he was ten."

Jack's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Oh."

"You should talk to Jack."

After a brief pause where he was still too shocked to have much of a reaction, Jack shook his head.

"No. He wouldn't want that."

"Do you have a picture?"

"Yeah."

"Don't you think that he would want to see it?"

"No. Why put him through that?"

"You're right. He won't want to hear it. Not right now. But, later on, who knows how much later on, he'll think about it and want to know. He at least deserves to be given the option."

Jack looked over Daniel with a disbelieving eye.

"Ya know, I think you know too much about me for your own damn good."

"Don't I know it."

Jack smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. Letting out a puff of breath, he stood. "Looks like I'm off to see a man about a boy."


	6. Chapter 6

"Come in."

Jack lifted his eyes to the door as it opened. One of his doubles entered.

Standing just on the opposite side of the desk, the double dropped a white envelope down on the desk.

"What's this?"

"A picture."

"Of?"

"Charlie."

Silence.

"Listen. I can't even begin to comprehend what you went through. I have an idea of how I would have handled it and it ain't pretty." He paused just for one moment. "He's a good kid, Jack."

Jack shook his head. "Stop. I don't wanna hear it."

'Charlie' Jack gave a curt nod. He'd expected as much. Turning to leave, he stopped. "If you ever decide you want to know more, anything, you know where to find me."

And with that, he was gone.

Jack stared at the envelope. He was furious. His Charlie was alive. Alive! He'd be eighteen now. Just starting out on his own. Maybe going to college. This O'Neill had the gall to come in and shove that in his face. Right in front of him, a picture of what could have been. What could have been if he hadn't killed his own son.

Jack wanted to throw the envelope across the room so that he couldn't see it anymore. But he couldn't even touch it. He didn't want to look at it but he couldn't take his eyes off of it either. So, he sat, staring at it, fuming in anger and renewed grief.

After what seemed like forever, Jack stood. He had to get away.

* * *

Sam strolled into the gym and stopped when she saw the Colonel beating the crap out of the punching bag. She didn't fully understand how, but she just knew that this was her Colonel.

Sweat glistened his skin and his shirt was soaked down the middle of his back. He'd been at it a while. Maybe he was letting the stress of the other O'Neill's get to him. He hadn't even noticed she was here yet. And for the Colonel, who knew if a flea was in twenty feet of him, that was saying something.

Hoping to lighten his mood, she said, "I think it's dead, sir."

His whole body tensed, muscles twitching from over exursion.

Feeling that maybe something was really wrong with him, she questioned, "Sir?"

He kept his back to her and hit the punching bag again.

"Not now, Carter."

Her brows furrowed together. Before she could stop herself she walked closer til she was at his side, though at a distance. Anger oozed from his features and there was a rage in his eyes that Sam had never seen before. His jaw was clamped tightly shut and he still refused to look in her direction.

"Sir, are you okay?"

Clenching his jaw with almost an impercievable shake of his head, he growled, "I said, not now, Carter."

Sam warred with herself on what to do. It was obvious that he did not want to talk and yet she didn't feel like it was right to leave him. To touch him would not be wise when he was like this. He would never intentionally hurt her, but being so wound up, he was likely to strike on instinct before he thought it through. She stared openly at him, concern knit on her features, for several long moments, before she slowly nodded her head and turned to go.

Once her back was to him, Sam heard him say almost accusingly, "He told you, didn't he?"

She had no idea what he was talking about. Turning back to face him, she questioned, "Who told me what, sir?"

"Nevermind."

"Sir, what's wrong?"

She said that with a little more force than she had meant to, but he started the conversation. She figured that gave her an opening to try and figure out what was going on with him.

He whipped around to face her. "I'M PISSED OFF, THAT'S WHAT!"

The words hit her like a slap in the face but she did her best to hide the fact. He wasn't mad at her and she knew it.

Jack ripped the towel he had over his shoulders off and went to throw it in it's designated hamper.

Continuing where he left off, he said, "There, ya happy?", his voice no less full of anger.

"No. You gonna tell me what it's about?"

"No."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"If you don't wanna talk about it, we don't have to talk about it."

Jack looked at her incredulously and quite frankly he was a little shocked that she was willing to let it go. But then the anger was back and he just wanted to be alone.

He closed his eyes and shook his head slightly. "Carter, just go, will ya? I'm sure there's five other O'Neill's waiting for ya in your lab."

_What was that supposed to mean?_ "I'd rather stay with you, sir."

"Yeah. Well, I'd rather you didn't."

He cursed himself when he saw the hurt flicker momentarily in her eyes but didn't say anything as she nodded and walked out the door.


	7. Chapter 7

_Stupid, stupid Carter.  
_  
'Yeah, well, I'd rather you didn't.'

_Why did that hurt so much? He was angry and he just wanted to be alone, he didn't mean it. Not like that anyway. You know that. So why are you still freaking out? _

_God, what was he so upset about? And he thought I knew? Who would have told me? Daniel? No, if Daniel knew Jack was like that, he'd have been with him. Mouth? The only thing Mouth had told her was that the Colonel was 'crazy' over her. The Colonel wouldn't be pissed off over that. Would he? No, that doesn't even make sense. Does it? God, I don't know._

"Heya, Carter!"

_Oh no. I can't deal with any O'Neill's right now. I can't act like that conversation didn't just happen and look in the face of another Jack. Not right now._

"Sorry, sir, I'm very busy right now."

_Quit looking at me like that, all concerned. Take the hint and leave._

"Carter, what's wrong?"

_Damn it. Fake smile. _"Nothings wrong, sir. Like I said, I'm just very busy."

"Carter, I've seen you mess with three doohickey's at once while eating blue jello and writing a report and you still somehow manage to babble techno whatzits at me." Getting no response, he continued, "I can make it an order."

_That's it! _"No, sir. You can't! I don't have twenty one CO's. I have one! I cannot and will not be ordered around by all of you. If you want to go take it up with him, be my guest."

_Well, that's a grand variety of emotions. If it was a different situation, I might find his facial expressions amusing right now. Let's see, that's shock, anger, confusion, and now, my favorite, the mask. Completely unreadable. I hate when he does that._

"You're absolutely right, Major. Don't know what came over me."

With a curt nod of the head, he walked out.

Sam buried her face in her hands. _Guilt. Lovely. Just a cherry on top of everything else today. _

* * *

Jack towel dried his hair, ignoring the blood on the white towel from his hand. 

_Note to self: It's not a good idea to punch lockers. It hurts a little._

_Note to self 2: Get Teal'c a new locker door._

Jack heard the door open and close while he threw his shirt on, but didn't bother turning around.

"What the hell did you do to her?"

Jack sat and half turned on the bench to put on his shoes. Judging by the uniform, Jack was guessing it was Mouth. _Figures._

"How 'bout you stay out of it."

"No. She just completely blew up on me. Proper, by the books, Samantha Carter, just blew up on me! Something tells me that has something to do with you."

Jack couldn't help but chuckle. He would have loved to see Carter lose her cool.

"Well, it has nothing to do with you."

"Damned to hell if it doesn't. What have you got so far up your ass that you took it out on her?"

_"THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HER!"  
_  
_"THEN WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH?"_

Jack clenched his jaw. He knew himself well enough to know that Mouth wasn't gonna let him out of this locker room without explaining. He sighed.

"Charlie. One of the O'Neill's Charlie is still alive. He even gave me a damned picture."

Mouth's eyes were wide and he simply stood there in shock, trying to let that information sink in.

Jack stood up next to him. Full of sarcasm and the anger he still felt over it, Jack said, "Hurts, doesn't it?"

And then Mouth hit him hard with a right hook.

"You slimy bastard. Don't you dare say something like that to me again! He was my son, too."

Jack rotated his jaw with his hand from where he was lying on the floor between the bench and the locker. Looking at Mouth, he frowned.

"I guess I deserved that."

"Yeah, I'm half tempted to do it again, too."

The two stared at each other for a while, with mirrored frowns. Without saying a word, they called a truce.

Finally, Jack broke the silence.

"Here, help me up, will ya?"

Mouth pulled him to his feet.

"Can I see it?"

"What?"

"The picture."

"Knock yourself out."

Mouth smirked. "I did that already."

"Funny."

"You haven't looked at it, have you?"

"Nope."

"Are you going to?"

"Do you have to ask?"

Mouth nodded. He'd figured as much. "What about Carter?"

Jack let out a puff of air. "Yeah, I'll figure something out."

"You better. She's kinda scary when she's mad."

Jack actually laughed. Reaching up with his hand, Jack moved his jaw around a bit more.

"Ya know, I'd never been hit by myself before."

"And?"

"And we have a nice right hook. Hurts like hell."


	8. Chapter 8

Author note: I'm not sure how this story has gotten so angsty. I started in with just jokes in mind but it's kind of just come to me as I go. Pretty sure the next chapter will be the last angsty chapter...at least for a while. I don't know how long or where this story will go yet so we'll see.

Anyway, I hope you guys are enjoying it thus far.

* * *

Three men sat in, unbeknownst to them, near identical positions around Jack's desk. Slouched down in their chairs, arms resting on their armrests, with hands joined in front of them. Two sat staring at a white envelope on the desk, while the other appeared lost in his thoughts.

Jack wasn't exactly sure how he'd gotten talked into this, but he was pretty sure it was Mouth's fault. He really had planned not to ever look at the picture. Planned to throw it out once he got the guts to pick it up. But now he wasn't as angry. Getting the sense knocked into him, quite literally, helped a little with that. He found that he was curious. What had his boy grown up to look like? To be like? Was Charlie's hair still blonde? Did he still like baseball?

"Oh, fer cryin' out loud, will one of you pick up the damn envelope!"

'Charlie Jack' fidgeted in his chair, waiting for Mouth or Jack to move. Turns out, Mouth was the first to break, reaching for the envelope.

Jack held his breath as Mouth took out the picture, waiting to see his reaction. Mouth held a hard expression on his face as he looked over the picture, trying not to show too much of how he felt, but all at once, he lost the battle, and smiled a true smile with tears in his eyes.

"God...he's beautiful."

Jack hopped out of his chair like someone had placed a tack on it and walked to the other side of the desk to stand by Mouth. He waited patiently as Mouth continued casting his eyes over the photo. When Mouth finally looked up, he still had the small smile on his face, handing the picture to Jack.

Jack was torn. More and more he wanted to look at it but even now, with Mouth holding it out to him, he hesitated. Taking it with a shaky hand, Jack took a deep breath and looked down at the photo.

'God...he's beautiful' were his first thoughts, not even realizing he had just thought the same words Mouth had spoken moments before. Charlie...this Charlie looked every bit the young man that he was. His hair was darker but still a blonde shade, a lot shorter style than he'd had at ten. Kind of like Jack's own hair actually. Even though the color was definitely Jack's, the shape and overall area of Charlie's eyes reminded him of someone else.

"He looks so much like Sara."

'Charlie Jack' nodded. "He acts just like her too. Never get in a fight with him. He'll out word you and turn it around in a second to where you're agreeing with him without even realizing it."

Jack smiled at that. He'd lost many a fight with Sara that very same way.

In the picture, Charlie had a lopsided grin with deep line dimples that looked very much like Jack's. He was there and alive and healthy and all at once Jack was immensely happy and horribly sad at the same time. Happy that there was a Charlie out there, living breathing and enjoying life. And sad that it wasn't his Charlie.

There was a yellow lab in the picture that Charlie was knelt down next too, one arm over the dog's back.

"You have a dog?"

Charlie Jack grinned. "Yeah, that's Homer."

Mouth and Jack couldn't help the matching grins.

"Charlie picked the name. We brought Homer home with us and that first night, he managed to spill my beer and drink it up off the floor before I'd realized what happened. Charlie thought the name was fitting."

Jack snorted.

Mouth chimed in, saying, "I'm surprised Sara went along with it."

Charlie Jack shuffled in his seat a little. "Ahh, me and Sara had split up by then."

"Oh."

There was an overall introspective moment for the men as they thought about that. Jack had assumed that since this Charlie was alive that that Jack was still with Sara. Evidently, Mouth agreed because he said as much.

Charlie Jack kept his eyes on the desk. "We divorced when Charlie was twelve. When Charlie shot himself," Charlie Jack winced at the memory and at saying those words in front of two men whose Charlie's didn't live through the same experience, "Sara stayed mad at me for a long time. Charlie was in a coma for about two months and after that, it took a while for him to get back on his feet. Getting Charlie better, getting through something like that, should have brought us closer together, but it tore us apart. I couldn't forgive myself and by the time Sara was ready to forgive me, I'd shut myself off. I focused everything on Charlie. We tried to make it work, for Charlie's sake, but in the end, we knew it was best to just move on. I guess, looking back, in some ways we already had anyway."

Neither Jack nor Mouth knew what to say to that, so all three remained silent, lost in their own thoughts.

Finally, Jack spoke, surprising himself at being so open to talking about this. "Tell us about him."

Charlie Jack smiled and started in on stories of 'their' son while the other two settled back in their chairs to soak it in and accept it in their own ways.


	9. Chapter 9

Sam stood and rotated her shoulders. She'd been slouching over a device SG-1 had brought back a couple of weeks ago for most of the day and her body was starting to feel the effects of being stagnant for so long. Sam glanced over at her coffee mug. If she ran to the commissary, she could refill and probably work for another three hours. Flipping the cover on her watch, she saw that it was 2300. She hadn't slept well the last two nights. Okay, practically not at all.

Ever since her fight...discussion, whatever it was with the Colonel, her mind had been racing. During the day she could drown it out with work but at night, all she could do was think. Was he okay? Could she have approached the situation differently and gotten through to him somehow? Maybe she should have just left him alone from the get go like he wanted. After running those and countless other questions through her mind, Sam had given up on sleep, downing extra potent cups of coffee to get her through the day.

Looking again at her coffee mug, Sam decided that coffee didn't even sound good anymore. Resigning herself to giving in for the night, Sam turned off her laptop and other lab equipment.

"I'm an ass."

Even though her back was to the door, she instantly recognized the voice.

Trying to school her breathing, she replied, "No, sir. You're not," without turning around.

"My behavior pretty much proves you wrong, Carter."

She felt more than heard him come into her lab. All she needed to do was turn to her right and she would be face to face with him.

When she did so Sam gasped, all thoughts of his apology and their previous conversation gone.

"Sir! What happened to your face?"

Before she consciously thought what she was doing, Sam took his face in her hands, examining the large bruise on his temple and cheek bone.

He eyed her with a small smile at the evident concern she was expressing and at the feel of her hands on his skin. Trying to steer his thoughts away from the danger zone, Jack reached out with his hand to pull hers away from him.

"I'm fine, Carter," he said with mock annoyance.

"Sir, your hand! Did you get in a fight?"

She was holding his bruised and mangled hand in both of her own, running her fingers gently over the tender knuckles. The gesture was so intimate and yet Jack knew she didn't even realize that at the moment as she was so focused on the injury itself. Realizing he still hadn't said anything, Jack said, "No. Well, sorta."

She looked up and eyed him skeptically. "Sort of, sir?"

He shrugged. He didn't really want to tell her that he'd tried to put an easy access hole in Teal'c's locker. Knowing her, she'd put two and two together on her own eventually. Thankfully, she seemed to accept the answer...or lack thereof, for what it was and looked back at his hand, the one she was still holding.

"Sir, have you seen Janet about this? It's pretty swollen."

"And get stuck with her many needles? I think I'll pass."

Sam gave him a look that clearly said, 'She is not _that_ bad' before releasing his hand and opening one of the drawers to her desk.

"Well at least let me put some antiseptic cream on the cuts."

Jack winced but didn't pull his hand away when she took it again.

He stared openly at her face while she massaged the cream on his hand. Here he had yelled at her with no explanation whatsoever and then ignored her for the last two days and she was nursing his wounds.

"I'm sorry."

His voice was low, quiet, but firm and yet, when she didn't look up or stop mending his cuts, he began to wonder if she heard him.

"You don't have to apologize, sir."

Jack squeezed her hands with his own.

"Yes, I do."

He waited until she looked up at him before continuing.

"I was angry but I never should have taken it out on you."

"It's okay, sir. Really."

"Carter?"

"Sir?"

"Shut up. I'm trying to apologize here and you won't let me. You deserve an explanation. I was mad at...I..."

Sam placed one of her hands on top of his injured hand.

"Sir, you don't have to explain it to me. It's okay."

The way she stared at him so calmly and reassuringly, Jack realized that she meant it. She knew how hard it was for him to talk about anything that really got to him, and the fact that Sam was okay with him being that way and not trying to push him to get it all out, made Jack's heart clench in renewed affection and awe of her. It also made him realize something else.

"Sam, I want to tell you."

The use of her first name caught her attention and he could tell that she believed him.

Looking in her eyes, Jack said, "An O'Neill gave me a picture of Charlie."

Her face scrunched slightly in confusion but she tried to hide it.

Clearing it up for her, he clarified, "He's still alive."

Jack watched as realization dawned on her face and she grasped his hand slightly.

"Oh god, Jack..."

He was slightly surprised at how easily his name had just come off her tongue. Waving off her reply, Jack told her the rest of what had happened over the last two days. After he'd seen the picture and heard about that Charlie, he'd taken time to mull over it and accept it as what it was. Sam was silent throughout all of it, but being in true O'Neill fashion, he hadn't truly said much. Sam understood the things he didn't say.

Jack hadn't known what her reaction would be when he was done, but he definitely wasn't expecting what she did. Releasing his hand, she moved into his space and wrapped her arms around him in a warm embrace. He was too shocked at first to have any reaction, but then melted into her hold on him. Jack smiled against her neck. Leave it to her to find the perfect thing to do. It was so them. They rarely needed words and _this_, this was everything. He hadn't even realized he'd needed it, but now that he held her, he didn't want to let her go.

He didn't know how long they held each other before she slowly pulled back. Catching sight of his bruised face again, she gently rubbed her thumb over the marking while her hand cupped the side of his face. A shiver ran down his spine at her touch and he reached out, grabbing her wrist.

Her hand stilled on his face and Jack turned his head, placing a kiss on the palm of her hand; never taking his eyes off of her as he did so.

Looking at her straight in the eye again, and still holding her wrist in between them, he said, "I'm sorry...for before."

She smiled slightly and a little sadly. "I know."

Knowing that if she didn't find something to distract them soon, she was going to kiss him, Sam glanced at the hand that was holding hers.

"Here. Let me finish that."

Her hands trembled slightly as she reached for more cream and she prayed that Jack didn't see it. They were walking a fine line here and if they weren't careful they were going to cross over it and not be able to go back. They would regret it if they did. Her mind went to Duey and his Carter. They obviously didn't regret it. They'd been together for six months. She mentally shook her head. No, _she_ would regret it. If only for the reason that she didn't want to risk hurting his career. Yes, hers was important too but if anything were to happen, she would feel worse that she had been a stain on his career.

His left hand cupped the side of her face. Her breathing instantly picking up its pace, she slowly raised her gaze to meet his. Completely against her will. The back of her mind was yelling at her to keep her head down but obviously the front part completely missed the memo as their eyes locked.

Jack scanned over her face. She looked completely wiped out.

Taking his thumb, he gently traced the dark circle under one of her eyes.

"You look tired, Carter."

She could have been offended at that. Or at least have her self esteem plummet a little bit. If it wasn't for the open admiration and love...yes _love_ that she saw in his eyes as he said it.

Her knees trembled slightly. _Now would not be a good time to fall, Sam._

Unable to trust her voice, she simply nodded her head in reply.

God, he wanted to kiss her. She knew it too. Her eyes were wide with an almost deer-in-the-headlights expression, her lips just barely parted and her breathing rapid. She looked absolutely adorable. Fighting against the urge to even just kiss her forehead, to be able to touch his lips to her in some way, Jack reluctantly pulled his hand away from her face.

"You should go get some sleep."

She nodded again, still slightly dazed. Looking down, she saw that she was still holding his hand. Rubbing her thumbs over the back of his hand, she looked up when he gently squeezed her fingers. He twitched his lips in a small smile, one that he reserved just for her, and let go of her hands.

Taking a deep breath, Sam turned to go while she still had a small part of her brain telling her that was the wise decision. When she had almost reached the door, she heard him call her.

"Carter."

Sam faced him once again.

"Thanks."

She smiled. "Always, sir."

She winced at using his title. It had really just come out as habit. He sighed, hands in his pockets, and nodded. Letting her know in his own way that he got it. Understood that she hadn't said it to throw it in his face.

But that's what they were. Sir and Carter. As they both went there separate ways, they hoped that maybe one day they could be just Jack and Sam.


	10. Chapter 10

"Good morning, Siler."

"Uhh, good morning, Major Carter."

He was looking at her oddly. What? So, she was in a good mood today? It wasn't as if she was grinning inanely or anything. Well, at least not too much.

By the time the elevator reached her stop, Siler was grinning stupidly as well. Which only made Sam grin more. Happiness was contagious. And Samantha Carter was quite happy this morning, thank you very much. And it had absolutely nothing to do with a certain Colonel. Not one bit. At all.

Sam continued to smile happily all the way to her lab with a little bounce in her step, causing some interesting looks from passersby in the hall. Today was going to be a good day. Oh, and look at that. She already had a Colonel in her lab.

"Good morning, Colonel."

He turned around from the stool he was sitting on. It was 'Stache. Not even the creepiness that was the caterpillar on this Colonel's face could bring her down today.

"Well someone's awful cheery this morning."

He grinned at her, quite amusedly.

"I am," she said matter-of-factly. Usually, after a day like yesterday, where feelings had been pushed to the forefront, Sam would be on ultra alert to shove them all down into a dark corner of her mind and lock them away. But, she found that she wasn't particularly in the mood for that.

The Colonel was staring at her while she started up the equipment in her lab for the day. Let him stare. Today, Sam would willingly bask in the attention given her. Tomorrow, Sam might concern herself with distancing from her Colonel. But today, she decided she was gonna relish in it. Unabashedly.

After about twenty minutes of little conversation and 'Stache still looking at her, Sam couldn't help but cheekily saying, "You're staring, Colonel."

He cleared his throat and twitched his mouth causing the caterpillar to move around.

"I wasn't staring. I was watching you work."

She grinned slyly. "Of course you were, sir."

Seeming to give in to the fact that he'd been caught out, 'Stache said, "Your hair's shorter than hers."

"Sorry?"

"My Carter. Her hair hasn't been that short in years."

"So, you have one of the non military Carter's?"

"No, she's Air Force. She just decided to grow it out a couple years ago. It's kind of like going back in time, seeing you with short hair is all."

"Ah." Hmm, her with long hair. Being in the service, Sam hadn't really considered growing her hair out. It was just so much easier having short hair.

"Speaking of hair, sir...have you always had the..." She pointed at her upper lip area.

He laughed. "God, no. I lost a bet with Ferretti. Loser has to wear a mustache for a month."

Oh. Well, that was better. She'd felt a little bad for the Carter in that reality, not getting full Colonel hotness. And today, she was allowing herself to think thoughts like that.

Daniel padded into her lab, not even bothering to look at either of them. He clung to the mug in his hands as if his very life force was held within.

"Good morning, Daniel."

Okay, maybe that was a little too sing-songy for this early in the morning. Judging by Daniel's wince, that assumption was correct.

"Morning" came the grumpy reply.

"Good mornin', Danny boy."

Daniel scowled at 'Stache. "Number Two."

Sam almost choked on her own coffee.

"What did you say?"

'Stache answered for him.

"Daniel refuses to call us alternate reality O'Neill's by name. Evidently, he didn't like it too much when we put some black food coloring in his coffee. I was the first through the gate so he calls me Number Two. That's okay, though. I call him Dr. Evil so I guess we're even."

'Stache smiled wickedly with a dash of smugness for good measure.

Sam bit her lip to keep from laughing. She didn't think Daniel would appreciate that much in his current state.

Feeling she should do something for poor Daniel, she said, "Sir, don't you think you all have done enough damage to Daniel?"

'Stache nodded. "Yeah, we're done. We decided that if we ever wanted to get home we'd better let him work. Speaking of which, how's it coming?"

Daniel frowned.

"Whoever made the device was really pompous. I'm actually surprised he wasn't a Goa'uld by the way he goes on about himself in the writings. That's what's been taking so long. Most of what I've translated so far is this scientist, Al'mar, going on about his vast achievements. I'm just starting to find information about the hand device. Apparently, he invented it to try and prove the existence of alternate realities. He doesn't make any mention of the mirrors so I assume he didn't know about them."

"But you don't know how to send us back yet."

"No."

Daniel eyed the scene before him warily. Number Two was actually paying attention to all he had said. He didn't even try to cut him off. And Sam was off in la-la land, staring at her computer with a silly grin on her face.

"You seem chipper this morning, Sam."

"Hmm? Oh, yes, thank you, Daniel. I am."

Daniel looked to Number Two for answers, who just shrugged as he had no idea what was up with her either.

"What? I can't be in a good mood?"

"No. You can. Just a little curious is all."

He narrowed his eyes. _Spill, woman._

Sam just shrugged.

"Ya know, Jack was in an unusually good mood this morning, too. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"Nope. Not at all."

"Riight. So, what happened?"

"Daniel, I can't help it if the Colonel happens to be in a good mood at the same time as me. I haven't even seen him this morning."

Looking down at his mug and seeing it was empty, Daniel said, "Okay. Fine. Keep it to yourself. I'm off to the commissary. You want anything?"

"No thanks, Daniel."

Hopping off his stool, 'Stache said that he'd join him. Evidently, Fruit Loops were sounding pretty spectacular to him this morning.

The pair ran into a grinning Jack in the hall.

"Mornin' boys."

"You're right. He is pretty boisterous this morning."

Jack frowned as Daniel nodded and said, "Told ya."

"What?"

'Stache grinned evilly. "You and Carter are both in _fantastic_ moods this morning. Any reason we should know about?"

"Nope."

"No, as in, there's not a reason, or no as in a reason we should know about?"

Jack just grinned at Daniel and then 'Stache, patting them both on the shoulder as he passed in between them.Watching Jack walk on towards Sam's lab, Daniel said, "Yeah, something definitely happened."

"Oh yeah. So, breakfast?"

"Breakfast."


	11. Chapter 11

Samantha Carter was humming. And Jack had reason to believe he had something to do with it. If that wasn't enough to make his day, nothing would be.

Pushing himself off the door frame he had been leaning on, Jack greeted her.

"Mornin' Carter."

Jack's personal favorite variety of the Carter grin was his reward, followed by a cheery, "Morning, sir."

Well, weren't they just a couple of teenagers this morning. He couldn't really find it in himself to care.

"Feeling up to some breakfast?"

"Sure. Let me just shut down my laptop."

Sam went to close any important programs and realized she had yet to open any. Oh. Well, that had to change. She was all up to being in a good mood but she still had work to get done today. After breakfast, that is.

Once in the commissary, they sat with Daniel and 'Stache. Jack tried his best to ignore the curious questioning eyes of Daniel flickering back and forth between him and Carter. The knowing grin emanating from the counterpart on his left was resolutely ignored as well. Another double broke the growing tension by pulling up a chair and sitting down to eat with them.

"Mornin' kids. Hey, where'd you get bacon? I didn't see any."

Jack pulled his tray closer to him in a protective gesture.

"Last pieces."

The newest O'Neill eyed the bacon longingly, calculating his chances of successful retrieval from their current location. Seeing the glare from 'the First', he backed down.

"Good morning, Doctor."

Doc nodded. "Sam."

Daniel half turned in his chair, facing Doc more fully.

"So, Jack..."

When three O'Neill's lifted their eyes to him, Daniel rephrased, "...Doctor O'Neill, what exactly are you a doctor of?"

Doc opened his mouth to reply when he jerked in his seat and glared at Jack instead.

"Ow!" he said rather accusingly.

Jack feigned an innocent expression. "I'm sorry?"

"You kicked me!"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Jack took a big bite of one of his strips of bacon. Doc glared.

"I have a PhD in..."

"Ow!"

Jack rubbed his leg under the table where he had been kicked, which was just wrong considering he had been the one trying to kick someone. Doc looked altogether way too smug.

"...in astronomy."

"Really?"

Sam was greatly intrigued. The difference in a PhD in astronomy and astrophysics anymore was kind of moot point.

"Do you specialize in any one area?"

Doc nodded. "Stellar mainly, though I do work in galactic and extragalactic as well."

By this point, Jack was staring resolutely at his tray, trying to act as if this conversation wasn't happening. Sam was too busy discussing the new shared passion with the Doc to notice, but Daniel wasn't.

"Jaack, you don't have one, too, do you?"

Jack looked at Daniel like he'd said the world was made of moth balls.

"No, I would guess he doesn't." Doc looked over Jack as if he was just figuring something out. "You didn't get in the wreck, did you?"

Both Jack and 'Stache said, "What wreck?"

Doc directed his attention back to everyone and no one at the same time. "When I was seventeen, I got into a hell of a wreck on my motorcycle. It was bad. Told I'd never walk again. Of course I proved them wrong there but I still couldn't cut it for the Academy. Or at least not at the time. That's where the time lines must have diverged. I focused on my studies and got a scholarship while you two must have went to the Academy." Looking at Daniel, he said, "That means they have a Bachelor of Science and I'd bet money they majored in Astronomy."

Neither 'Stache nor Jack seemed willing to divulge that information. 'Stache frowned petulantly.

"I didn't have a motorcycle when I was seventeen."

"I did. Didn't wreck it though."

'Stache practically pouted. "How'd you get Mom to let you have one?"

Both Doc and Jack grinned smugly and said simultaneously, "O'Neill charm."

"We must have different mothers. Maggie O'Neill never fell for that routine in my house."

Daniel pushed his glasses back up his nose and frowned in thought.

"So, if you're not the leader of SG-1, what were you doing on the planet?"

"Filling in for Sam, actually. There was supposed to be quite a bit of a light show on the planet and since she couldn't be there, Kawalski had me go with them."

"Wait a second, Kawalski's SG-1's leader?"

Doc nodded, as Sam asked, "Why couldn't I go? What happened to me?"

Doc smiled with a far off look in his eyes. "You're pregnant."

Sam seemed too stunned to reply. Jack choked on his water and 'Stache had to hit him on the back a couple of times before he could breathe again.

Daniel grinned evilly. "Not that I need bother asking, but who's the father?"

Sam's blush went all the way down her neck under her BDU's. Jack was red as well but whether that was from his coughing fit or embarrassment wasn't really known.

Doc smiled broadly. "Why that would be her husband, of course. Speaking of my wife, she's about eight month's Danny, and I'd really like to actually _be_ there when she delivers. I figure she's already thought of several ways to kill me for not being there now as it is."

"Pregnant." Sam whispered the word in disbelief.

Doc looked at his wife's counterpart in concern. "Saam?"

"Yes, sir...I mean, Doctor. Sorry."

"What's wrong?"

Jack was torn between staring at her and trying not to look at her at all. She obviously wasn't too happy about the idea of being pregnant with his kid. Maybe he'd misread everything between them. I mean, who could blame her for not wanting his kid anyway with his record.

"Jolinar. Did your Sam not..."

Sam left the sentence hanging. All three Jack's looked greatly confused at the change in topic, but Doc grimaced at the mention of the snake and nodded his head.

"But how? Janet said that the chances of me being able to ever get pregnant were very low."

Doc shrugged. "She told us the same thing. We weren't even trying to have a baby." He smiled again. "Can't say either of us were disappointed when we found out though."

"So, it's possible?"

"Oh yeah. And for future reference Jack, just let her make the bed however she wants, agree with whatever she says, and keep a large supply of chicken wings and M&M's on hand. Trust me. Sam pregnant is just a tad hormonal and those three things will save you a world of trouble."

Jack began to make incomprehensible noises to try and state the obvious fact that him and Carter were not together when he glanced at said female and saw the small affectionate smile on her face, directed at him.

Suddenly denying the fact was lost on him. He sighed in relief internally at the way she was looking at him. Like the idea of being with him, having his kid didn't seem so bad. Like it was what she wanted.

Still looking at Sam, Jack asked, "Is it a boy or a girl?"

"Don't know. Little bugger crosses it's legs every time we try and look. Hey, Super Mario. We gotta go. The newbies await."

Doc and 'Stache left, Jack still staring at Sam. Sam blushed and broke eye contact, looking down at her tray.

"Well, that was...interesting," Daniel finally said. "What does that make now? For sure, three out of twenty-two."

"Six." Sam said before she could stop herself. She winced when her teammates snapped their eyes to her.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Jack raised an eyebrow a la Teal'c. "Carter?"

"It was all Mouth."

"It was all what?"

Jack ignored Daniel's question. "What do you mean it was Mouth?"

"You really don't want to know, sir."

"Probably not, but I already asked."

Sam sighed. "Mouth brought all the Colonel's, now that I think about it Doc _wasn't_ there, huh. Anyway, he brought all the Colonel's into my lab and conducted a poll."

"A poll?"

"Yes, sir."

Jack waved his hand for her to elaborate.

"He asked them to raise their hand if they wanted to be in a relationship with their Sam's."

Sam blushed a bright pink again.

"He did what?!"

Daniel, at this point, was physically holding the side of the table to keep from sliding out of his seat he was laughing so hard. Wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, he asked through stuttered breaths, "How...many...did?"

Man, it was incredibly hot in here. Seriously, Sam felt like her skin was on fire. Quietly, she replied, "All of them."

This set Daniel off on another bout of laughter in which he laid his head down on the table, his shoulders visibly shaking. By now, everyone in the commissary was staring. No one knew what the archaeologist thought was so funny, but most assumed that it was just another oddity of the flagship team. Maybe the doctor had finally cracked.

"I'm going to kill that little creaton."

"Wait a second. Sam, you said six."

"Three of them were actually in relationships with their Carter's."

"How'd they get around the regulations?"

"Two had non-military Carter's."

That statement diverted Jack's thoughts of murdering...himself. Bizarre thought. "What about the other one?"

Sam looked down at her plate with great interest.

"They were breaking them, weren't they?"

Jack was about to say 'yeah, right' in his most sarcastic voice when Carter snapped her head up at Daniel and asked, "Now why would you say that?"

What?

"What? You mean they really are breaking them?"

"Ssshhhh. Someone might hear you."

Jack looked around the commissary. Since Daniel had regained control of himself, people had quit paying any attention to them. Jack leaned a little closer to the table.

"It's not our reality, Carter. They can't court martial us."

Sam came really close to rolling her eyes.

"I just don't want people getting any ideas. We already have enough rumors going around without adding fuel to the fire."

"Point."

It was an interesting tidbit of information though. Maybe. Possibly. Jack returned his attention to his breakfast.

"Why that little!"

"Sir?"

"He stole my bacon!"


End file.
